KOLKATA: A close aide of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari was shot dead in an apparent targeted attack in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, intensifying political tensions just days after the BJP secured a historic election victory in the state.
According to police officials, 41-year-old Chandranath Rath was ambushed late Wednesday night near his residence in Kolkata by armed assailants riding motorbikes. The attackers reportedly blocked Rath’s vehicle before opening fire with nearly a dozen bullets, striking him multiple times in the chest.
Doctors at Apollo Hospital confirmed that Rath was brought to the hospital dead due to severe gunshot injuries.
West Bengal Police Chief Siddh Nath Gupta said authorities had recovered the motorcycles used in the attack and discovered they carried fake registration numbers. Police have launched a manhunt to identify and arrest the attackers.
The killing comes shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP achieved a major political breakthrough by winning 207 out of 294 assembly seats in West Bengal, marking the party’s first-ever victory in the state. The state had previously been governed for more than a decade by Mamata Banerjee and her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Suvendu Adhikari, who is expected to become the next chief minister, condemned the incident as a “cold-blooded murder” and accused political opponents of orchestrating violence following the election results.
The BJP claimed the attack was part of a wider campaign of political violence allegedly linked to the TMC, while the Trinamool Congress rejected the accusations and instead accused BJP supporters of attacking its own workers.
Political clashes and violence have escalated across West Bengal since the election results were announced, with at least five people reportedly killed in separate incidents linked to post-election unrest.
Analysts view the BJP’s victory in West Bengal as one of the party’s most significant political achievements since Narendra Modi first came to power in 2014, expanding the party’s influence beyond its traditional strongholds in northern and central India.
